Agenda item

The Committee received the report of the Director: Workforce and Change and Head of Human Resources to consider the Pay Policy Statement for 2024/25. Members were asked (subject to amendments agreed at its meeting) to recommend to Full Council the Pay Policy Statement 2024/25 to take effect from 1 April 2024.

The Head of Human Resources asked Members to note the following key points:–

a.      The Pay policy statement needed to be agreed by 31^st March

b.      The Council is a Living Wage Employer and in line with previous custom and practice the Council would adopt the new rate of £12 per hour from 1^st April 2024

c.       Local government employers were finding that successive pay awards had resulted in the pay spine gradually compressing, eroding ability to compete with rates of pay offered by other employers

d.      The pay points specified in the draft pay policy statement would apply at the date of publication but would be updated to reflect pay awards agreed from 1^st April.

e.      A chief officer can be placed at any salary within the relevant range.  From an administrative perspective it would be less burdensome if we had specific points within that range.  It wouldn’t reduce flexibility but would provide more of a framework. Annual pay progression for chief officers on a time-served basis was not recommended (as per the 2011 Will Hutton review); instead it should be reflective of performance in role.

f.        In reference to Paragraph 9 of the report it was confirmed that colleagues (“interims”) not directly employed by the Council attracted significant salaries. It was suggested that the ratios in the pay policy statement should include interims where they are included in the Council’s Statement of Accounts and/or where they were engaged for a period of 12 months or longer as at the reporting date (which is 31 December each year).

g.       With reference to para 12 of the pay policy, returning officer fees, it was confirmed that the fees paid for national polls were set by government and local election fees had not been revisited for some years.  Officers sought agreement to use the sum paid for the police and crime poll (which was set by government) pay policy as the sum to be paid for Bristol City Council local elections.

In discussion the following points were raised:

h.      Cllr Eddy advised that although he broadly supported the improvements made to the pay policy statement, he still had concerns regarding the interim recruitment strategy as most interims were paid more than 10 times the least paid, and on that basis expressed concern about accuracy of figures and advised that he could therefore not vote for it.

i.        Cllr Francis requested that introductory paragraph 1c of the pay policy was reviewed to clarify that whilst Councillors were responsible for recommending the implementation of the pay policy statement they did not directly make decisions about pay, and the current wording inferred that they did.

j.        Officers clarified that when recruiting a chief officer, the Selection Committee set a salary within the given band after reviewing benchmarking information and consideration of any market factors.

Action: Officers to amend paragraph 1c to include the points at which councillors can change, amend or decide pay.

k.       It was confirmed that at paragraph 3 of the pay policy statement, (Pay of the highest paid employees), the ranges had been determined by the Human Resources Committee based on previous external recommendations (from Korn Ferry (a job evaluation and pay benchmarking company) and the Local Government Association).

l.        Paragraph 8 of the report references a performance related approach to spinal column points progression, which would require good governance.

m.    Any recommendation to take a similar approach forward would require consultation with those affected and potentially a variation to the terms of reference for committee.

n.      There was general support of the principal to tie the Returning Officer fee for local (BCC) elections to that in place in respect of the Police and Crime Commissioner poll. Members requested further details.

Action: Officers to confirm the schedule of Returning Officer fees for the various elections.

On being put to the vote, it was:

RESOLVED that (subject to the above amendments) the Committee recommends to Full Council the Pay Policy Statement 2024/25 to take effect from 1 April 2024.

(2 abstain; Cllr Eddy and Cllr Alexander)